Not to take anything away from Deng, but in my opinion he is wastly overrated. He may get those 20+ point games, but he also chucks up alot of shots. But he sure is a good defensive player, not an all star in my eyes, Pierce should have gone before him.

Mind you Deng is not a star either. Just another good role player. He was having a stronger season before this last month when his shooting dropped under 40%.

I disagree strongly with the defense part.

I honestly believe Deng is horridly overrated. I have never in my life seen a Chicago game where I have been wowed by Deng's play on either end of the floor. He reminds me a lot of Joe Johnson - solid in a lot of areas, but not really dominant at anything.

Everybody raves about Deng's defense - he might be a solid defender, but I have never seen him dominate a game defensively the way guys like Avery Bradley, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard do. I see him defensively as a slightly better version of Paul Pierce, and that's about it.

Lately (last month or two) Jeff Green's defense against elite offensive wing players has been astounding. He practically shut Lebron down when we beat Miami last time - he is about the only player in NBA history I have ever seen do that to Lebron. Yes I know Lebron scored over 30 points, but somebody here actually posted some data on Lebron's shot attempts while Green was on him, and he shot someting like 30% when matched up with Green. That is absolutely phenomenal defense.

Most importantly, it wasn't just Lebron either. When we beat the Thunder earlier in the year Green's defense on Durant was exceptional, and likewise his defense on Melo when we beat the Knicks. This guy has played some ELITE level defense against some of the best scoring wing players in the league, and I don't believe Deng would have had half a hope of slowing down any one of those guys like Green did (and without getting in foul trouble at that).

Green (when he's on fire) is also IMHO a far more dominant offensive player. I know he has lacked consistency, but when he's on fire he can be dominant and borderline unstoppable. I have never seen Deng in that mode offensively - he's just solid. .

I'll agree on the rebounding and passing (but not by much) but to be hoenst I believe Deng is WAY overrated and should not be an all-star. Pierce is far superior (so is Iggy Josh Smith, Al Hortford) and none f those guys made the All-Star game. Watching Deng in the game he did practically nothing, and it was blatantly obvious he was playing outside his comfort zone surrounded by all of those stars.

Noah making the team was also a joke. The guy does nothing but rebound and block shots - offensively he is skilled enough to not be a liability, but that's about it. A very good starter, but not an All-Star.

Not even close. When both are playing their best, Deng is 70% of Pierce if that.

When Pierce is on his game he is a dominant scorer, rebounder and passer at his position - a potential triple double on any night. He's a guy who can score 40 on you on any given night if he's feeling it, and when he is there is NOBODY on this earth who can defend him.

Deng cannot come close to even dreaming of matching Pierce in terms of skill set. Don't let the numbers fool you - Deng will never be able to dominate games the way Pierce can, even at 35 years of age.